This Date in Weekender History: Magic carpet ride for ‘The Alamo’

Dignitaries walk the yellow carpet for the gala premiere of ‘The Alamo’ in March 2004.

Highlights of Weekenders of five, 10 and 15 years ago, in my desperate attempt to clone S.A. Life’s “Today in History” feature for my very own:

March 26, 2004

EVENTS, MUSIC

 “The Alamo” gala premiere: Let the hype and hoopla begin. Two weeks before the new version of “The Alamo” was set to open April 9, San Antonio became Hollywood East with a two-day blowout that featured a star-studded screening in the Majestic Theatre that Disney called “the biggest movie premiere of all time.”

The stars of the film (Billy Bob Thornton, Jason Patric, etc.) and celebrity guests (Dennis Quaid, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, ZZ Top) walked a 1,500-foot yellow carpet (inspired by the “Yellow Rose of Texas”) to the Majestic for the screening, which was followed by an invitation-only party on Alamo Plaza featuring Asleep at the Wheel.

(File Photo)

Dennis Quaid stops for an interview along the yellow carpet.

Other events…

 Merle Haggard: The country legend, who played Cowboys Dancehall, was a bit miffed about the current state of country radio, which was ignoring his music. “It’s something to do with my belly button not being pretty,” he told music writer John Goodspeed. “And something to do with my videos. They want young girls, and I’m glad to see them have a great period for their music, but that eliminates any old men they could play.”

MOVIES

 “Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed”: Perhaps the most unanticipated sequel in recent memory, which is why E-N critic Larry Ratliff was surprised to discover that he actually liked it. The story “is more solid, the supporting actors are real talents and the entire affair seems much less forced,” he wrote.

 “The Ladykillers”: A movie of which a lot was expected, mainly because of the Coen brothers directing and Tom Hanks starring. But this offbeat New Orleans tale of Hanks leading a gang of crooks trying to break into the money-storage area of a riverboat casino via the basement of a nearby house was viewed as a letdown, getting mediocre reviews.

 “Jersey Girl”: An out-of-character romantic comedy from Kevin Smith (“Clerks”) starring Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler. Film was marketed as an Affleck/J.Lo romance, but Lopez’s character exited stage left only minutes into the movie.

March 26, 1999

MOVIES

 “EDtv”: Ron Howard movie that suffered in comparison to “The Truman Show” has largely faded from memory, but was considered a big deal at the time (it made this week’s cover). Matthew McConaughey starred as a video-store clerk who agreed to be the subject of an around-the-clock cable TV show. The supporting cast included Jenna Elfman as the love interest, plus Woody Harrelson and grizzled ol’ Martin Landau.

 Legends of Disco Festival: Yikes! We killed a whole page on this ’70s-revival bash in Sunken Garden Theater? Blame it on the recently opened Polly Esther’s, which sponsored the thing.The lineup included Gloria Gaynor (“I Will Survive”), Sister Sledge (“We Are Family”), The Trammps (“Disco Inferno”) and a couple of cover bands. In an interview with music writer Hector Saldaña, Gaynor explained the mixed blessing of being a disco queen: “I don’t like being pigeonholed. It’s an honor to be thought of as the pinnacle of any genre, especially when it’s positive. It’s an honor, but it can be, after awhile, limiting. Sometimes people begin to think because the ’70s are over, you’re over.”

 Jaci Velasquez: The teen Christian singer (she was signed at 15) was a ripe old 19 when she played Trinity Church in 1999. “It was really exciting,” she said of landing the record deal. “I remember sitting on the other end of the phone going, ‘Oh, my gosh, my gosh, my gosh!’ I was so excited, getting a record deal at 15.”

 Willie Nelson: He played Far West Rodeo a month before his 68th birthday. “I feel great,” he told music writer Jim Beal Jr. ” I don’t think my get-up and go has got-up and went, so that makes everything OK.”

March 25, 1994

MOVIES

 “The Paper”: Remember when all newspapers had to worry about was scooping the opposition and getting out on time? Ron Howard (him again) directed this tale of a day in the life of a hard-charging metro editor (Michael Keaton) of a struggling New York tabloid trying to get the real story on a couple of teens falsely accused or murder. Robert Duvall is his boss, who had a nasty habit of sleeping with his reporters. Glenn Close was the managing editor; Marisa Tomei portrayed Keaton’s very pregnant journalist wife, who chases after a story even though she’s about to pop.

The first thing about this movie that popped into my head was this scene (I found the dialogue in iMDB.com) in the pressroom between Henry Hackett (Keaton) and Michael McDougal, a columnist portrayed by Randy Quaid, when Keaton was trying to decide whether to change his big murder-case scoop as the presses were rolling:

Henry: I’m stopping it.

Michael McDougal: What?

Henry: We stop and replate. Go upstairs and write up what you’ve got. Tell Lou to send down “They Didn’t Do It” (revised headline).

Henry: Use the same art they used for “Gotcha!” (the original, incorrect headline).

Michael McDougal: Come on, how often do you get the chance? You can’t just do it and not say it, come on!

Henry: I … Stop the presses!

Footnote: Way, way back in the distant past, I actually got to do this once, too, as editor of the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung. It was a far more mundane situation. The pressroom had some spot color on the front page that was badly out of register, so I had them stop and fix it. It would not have made a good movie moment.

ALSO OPENING: Does it matter? OK, OK. This week’s new movies also included the underwhelming “Mighty Ducks” sequel “D2: The Mighty Ducks” and the basketball drama “Above the Rim.” The “Ducks” review does have one of those proud of/ashamed of headlines:

‘Ducks’ sequel

in penalty box

for high-shticking

MUSIC, EVENTS

 Chris LeDoux: Country musician championed by Garth Brooks because he was a real cowboy played Bronco Bill’s. LeDoux (who died in 2005 at 56) was name-checked in Brooks’ “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old”). He started making music long before he retired from rodeo in 1984. “But I’ve only been making money at it for about the last two,” he said.

 “Asalto”: Collaborative installation at the Guadalupe Art Annex dealt with violence of all types. So of course I had to write this headline: